Hospitals and care facilities use a variety of mechanisms for providing treatment to patients. More particularly, intravenous tubes, sensor cables, and other linear based care mechanisms have been widely used for administering blood, glucose, drugs, oxygen, and the like, to treat patients.
In a familiar hospital environment, most of the patient can be seen connected with numerous linear based care mechanisms, for example, intravenous tubes and sensor cables. Patients connected with such large number of intravenous tubes and sensor cables, is often seen constantly fighting with the intravenous tubes and sensor cables to prevent it from becoming tangled or trapped when they move. Such patients need more care and attention due to the complexity associated with the handling of the large number of tubes and/or cables. The large number and excessive length of tubes results in forming a web of tubes. The web may cause in twisting, tangling, blocking or removing of intravenous tubes or cables that are in use. Such conditions may be risky and dangerous for patients, further jeopardizing their health and welfare, and particularly for those patients who are in intensive care unit. Additionally, such tangling and trapping of tubes and cables may also prove to be uncomfortable, and waste of time for care providers, treating or taking care of patients.
Several approaches have been attempted in the past in the field of devices for storing medical tubes or cables. U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,808 discloses a retractable tubing reel device utilized in conjunction with a oxygen supply tank and nasal oxygen catheter, the device having an extended length of tubing allowing a patient greater movement beyond the immediate area of the oxygen tank, the device having a mechanism for retracting any excess extended tubing thereby preventing constriction and tangling of the tubing. The device retracting the tubing into housing where the tubing is rewound in a manner which also prevents constriction and tangling of the tubing inside the housing. One problem identified with the retractable tubing reel disclosed therein is that the device is limited to use a fixed diameter of cable or tube i.e., nasal catheter. Further, the device is configurationally complex, and more expensive due to the complexity of the mechanism associated with the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,591,858 discloses a gas tubing reel includes a housing having a tubing-reel rotatably positioned therein for unwinding and retracting tubing. The tubing-reel is biased in a retracting direction and includes ratcheting and releasing means for selectably paying out or retracting the tubing. One side wall of the housing defines an opening through which the tubing-reel may be slidably removed. The cable reel includes a line guide engaged with a worm gear for reciprocative movement between side walls of the housing whereby to evenly distribute the gas tubing on the tubing-reel. A swivel housing is coupled to the tubing-reel in a bearing relationship and includes an inlet port for receiving an end of the tubing and an outlet port for coupling to a nasal cannula. One disadvantage associated with the disclosed device is that it is limited to the use in providing care to patients undergoing gas therapy. Further, the gas tubing reel disclosed therein is heavy and needs costly maintenance due to the complex mechanical assembly associated with the working of the device.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a portable, economic, and simple to use device that can contain the excessive lengths of medical tubes or cables used in the treatment of patients, while avoiding the problem of twisting, tangling, and blocking of medical tubes and cables connected to patients.